Petras – Family Nibbles

Pusta Rybna Churches

Be sure to make a nature stop before you get to Pustá Rybná.

As we’ve researched family history earlier than 1770, we’ve lost some of our best research tools – house numbers and maps.

It’s complicated. Let’s start with two definitions:

lán – A measure of land, about 45 acres. Same as a “hide”.
láník – A farmer who farmed one or more lán. Same as a “sedlák”.

One of our goals in Pustá Rybná was to photograph the important houses.

My grandpa worked for Princess Gloria’s family.

That’s right, her.

Let’s meet Josepha Petráš Teply’s parents, Anton Petráš and Terezie Zahradnik.

Interestingly, Anton Petráš and Terezie Zahradnik each has a Teply parent or grandparent.

Joseph and Josepha Teply left Bohemia in 1867, bound for America. They are the only ones of our direct Teply ancestors to emigrate.

Illegitimate Children were a fact of life, literally.

Illegitimate children were common. It’s not unusual to see an illegitimate child on each page of the parish register.

We met Joseph and Josepha earlier, when we were in Borová and Oldřiš. They had gotten married and had a son Frantisek. Let’s learn more about them.

We have nine generations of Teplys in Bohemia to learn about. Let’s start with the most recent, and work our way back in time.